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International markets roundup

NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks finished higher following mixed US economic data as a closely watched index of small-cap equities outperformed the broader market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10.02 points points, or 0.06 per cent, to 16,543.08.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 4.46 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 1,892.49, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 22.8 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 4,154.34.

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Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, said investors were cheered by an 0.9 per cent rise in the Russell 2000 small-cap index.

Weakness in the Russell 2000 has contributed to the broader market's malaise over the last month or so.

The US Labor Department reported initial jobless claims, a measure of the pace of layoffs, totalled 326,000 in the week ending May 17, a gain of 28,000 from the prior week.

US existing homes sold at an annual rate of 4.65 million in April, up 1.3 per cent from March, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said. April marked the first month sales rose in 2014.

Greenhaus said trading volumes were low as some people on Wall Street had taken early vacation ahead of the Memorial Day holiday on Monday.

LONDON - Europe's main stock markets drifted up in subdued trading as the region began voting in parliamentary polls, and as investors reacted to global economic data releases and company updates.

London's FTSE 100 index of top companies ended the day essentially flat at 6,820.56 points, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 tacked on 0.24 per cent to 9,720.91 points and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.21 per cent to close at 4,478.21 points.

Madrid dipped 0.10 per cent and Milan dropped 1.21 per cent.

HONG KONG - Asian shares mostly rose as data indicated an improvement in Chinese manufacturing activity and minutes from the US Federal Reserve showed officials are considering their policy options after the bank's stimulus program ends.

Wall Street provided a healthy lead, with all three main indexes well up, while the US dollar added to its gains in New York as traders become more confident in higher-yielding, riskier assets.

Tokyo rallied 2.11 per cent, or 295.62 points, to 14,337.79 and Seoul gained 0.36 per cent, or 7.26 points, to 2,015.59.

Hong Kong rose 0.51 per cent, or 117.24 points, to 22,953.76 but Shanghai closed 0.18 per cent lower, giving up 0.18 per cent, or 3.66 points, to end at 2,021.29.

HSBC said preliminary data from its purchasing managers index (PMI) showed activity in China's factories declining at a much slower pace in May than in April.

The banking giant's PMI improved to 49.7 from 48.1 last month.

While the figure is below the 50-mark - suggesting contraction - it is the second straight month of improvement and will fuel hopes that the world's number two economy is picking up.

WELLINGTON - New Zealand shares advanced after a five-day slide gave investors confidence to buy companies offering dependable returns, including some in the property sector.

The NZX 50 Index rose 20.267 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 5128.840 on Thursday.